US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO1569

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR HTREGER 
NSC FOR CCOURVILLE 
MCC FOR SGAULL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, KCOR, PREL, PHUM, MZ 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: ANIBALZINHO RETRIAL BEGINS; DEFENDANT 
CLAIMS HE IS INNOCENT 
 
REF: A. MAPUTO 1555 
 
     B. MAPUTO 133 
 
MAPUTO 00001569  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. The retrial of Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), 
the man convicted of leading the hit squad responsible for 
the November 2000 assassination of investigative journalist 
Carlos Cardoso, began on December 1 in the Maputo City court. 
 Anibalzinho was previously tried in absentia and, in January 
2003, sentenced to 28 and a half years for his involvement in 
the murder.  In December 2004, the Supreme Court issued a 
controversial ruling allowing a retrial based on a 
technicality in the law.  During testimony on December 1, 
Anibalzinho proclaimed his innocence, stating he knew of the 
plot but did not take part in it.  Media coverage on the 
first days of the retrial has been extensive, though public 
interest appears to have waned since the original 2002 trial. 
 End Summary 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
2. Anibalzinho organized the November 2000 murder of 
Mozambique's foremost investigative journalist, Carlos 
Cardoso.  During the original November 2002 to January 2003 
court proceedings, Anibalzinho was tried in absentia since he 
remained at large following his September 2002 escape from 
Maputo's maximum security prison.  He was arrested in South 
Africa on January 30, 2003 and deported back to Mozambique 
just hours after the judge passed down his 28 and a half year 
sentence.  Anibalzinho managed a second escape from the same 
maximum security facility in May 2004.  He was eventually 
arrested in Canada and once again deported back to Mozambique 
in January 2005, after his request for political asylum was 
denied by Canadian authorities (ref B). 
 
3.  Five other individuals were sentenced along with 
Anibalzinho in 2003, including Manuel Fernandes (the lookout) 
and Carlitos Rashid (the trigger man), both of whom pointed 
to Anibalzinho as the one who recruited them and drove the 
car during the operation.  Brothers Nini and Ayob Abdul Satar 
and former Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM) manager 
Vicente Ramaya were also found guilty and sentenced to more 
than 20 years for allegedly ordering the killing because of 
Cardoso's investigation into a USD 14 million bank scandal 
involving BCM.  It remains unclear who ordered the killing, 
though testimony in the original trial reportedly implicated 
prominent Mozambicans, including the son of then-President 
Chissano, Nyimpine Chissano.  End Background. 
 
Anibalzinho Gets His Day in Court 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. In December 2004, the Supreme Court passed down a 
controversial decision that overturned the February 2003 
denial for a retrial requested by Anibalzinho's lawyer. 
Then-presiding judge Augusto Paulino ruled against the 
request based on his interpretation of a clause in the Penal 
Procedural Code governing retrials for those tried in 
absentia (Note: Paulino ruled that because Anibalzinho had 
been in jail prior to his court date, he had no right to a 
retrial. End note.)  Late last year, the Supreme Court 
effectively overruled the decision, stating instead that 
anyone sentenced in absentia to a prison term of more than 
two years should be allowed a retrial (ref B).  The retrial, 
which began on December 1 at the tenth circuit Maputo City 
Court, is reportedly designed to "root out" additional 
evidence in the case and will not annul Anibalzinho's 
original sentence handed down in 2003.  According to 
presiding judge Benvinda Levy, the proceedings will include 
testimony from at least six men, including Ramaya and 
Anibalzinho himself. 
 
5. During an emotional November 22 ceremony marking the 5th 
anniversary of the murder, Cardoso family lawyer Lucinda Cruz 
stated that the retrial would leave no one untouched and 
would serve to uncover exactly who was behind the murder. 
Cruz and Helder Matlaba, the lawyer representing Cardoso's 
wounded driver, Carlos Manjate, are both seeking compensation 
from the accused.  The Cardoso family is demanding 
 
MAPUTO 00001569  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
approximately 14 billion meticais (approx. USD 500,000) in 
compensation for Cardoso's two young children.  Manjate, who 
was shot in the head during the incident and can no longer 
work, is seeking 500 million meticais (approx. USD 18,000) in 
damages. 
 
6. During this week's testimony, Anibalzinho has proclaimed 
his innocence stating that he was aware of the murder plot, 
but did not take part in it.  He admitted to meeting with the 
Satar brothers and Ramaya to discuss a potential "business 
deal," though he claimed he did not know the proposition 
involved murder.  These statements are in direct 
contradiction to a taped video confession Anibalzinho sent to 
the Maputo City Court during the original 2002-2003 
proceedings, in which he confessed to his involvement in the 
murder plot. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
7. Press coverage of the first days of the retrial has been 
quite extensive, with stories being picked up in both the 
local and international press.  Expectations were that public 
interest would be high; however, the retrial has not yet 
seemed to grab the public's full attention.  Most observers 
have little faith that the trial will succeed in uncovering 
the truth behind the murder.  With Anibalzinho painting 
himself as an innocent car salesman who would never be 
involved in theft let alone murder, there is likely even less 
hope now that any significant revelations will result from 
this retrial. 
La Lime